Royal Elm Park

[Pat Butchers Ring]

Errr so what you saying?

[multisync1830]

Errr so what you saying?

Basically Pairoj Piempongsant was the main driver of buying the club in the first instance and his Empire Asia group are behind the development yet don't seem to feature anywhere. If that is a good thing or bad we don't know but I suspect he/they are the real power at RFC.

[Pat Butchers Ring]

Agreed about Pairoj. Sasima has mentioned him more than once.

Hyperthetically- if the Thais wanted out. Would they sell REP as part of the football club. Or could they be separated.

For me the worry would be if they were separated. The FC would then get no income and would have sold all the land.

[paddy20]

Errr so what you saying?

Basically Pairoj Piempongsant was the main driver of buying the club in the first instance and his Empire Asia group are behind the development yet don't seem to feature anywhere. If that is a good thing or bad we don't know but I suspect he/they are the real power at RFC.

Was he the Thai who was at the presentation? If so I chatted with him for a while and he seemed pretty sound to me.

[Nameless]

Agreed about Pairoj. Sasima has mentioned him more than once.

Hyperthetically- if the Thais wanted out. Would they sell REP as part of the football club. Or could they be separated.

For me the worry would be if they were separated. The FC would then get no income and would have sold all the land.

There's probably no way to protect against an owner who decides to asset strip.
But the club have already received a very significant sum for the land which is way more than the income they receive currently from it. So in the short term it's financially been a good deal.
There a degree to which we just have to trust the Thai's. What choice do we have ?

[multisync1830]

Agreed about Pairoj. Sasima has mentioned him more than once.

Hyperthetically- if the Thais wanted out. Would they sell REP as part of the football club. Or could they be separated.

For me the worry would be if they were separated. The FC would then get no income and would have sold all the land.

There's probably no way to protect against an owner who decides to asset strip.
But the club have already received a very significant sum for the land which is way more than the income they receive currently from it. So in the short term it's financially been a good deal.
There a degree to which we just have to trust the Thai's. What choice do we have ?

Are you saying the club has sold the land?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

So a few people are now on the payroll of the club, at the behest of the owners. From what it can be seen they are not on the football side.
Personally I am worried about what is going on off the pitch, this is no longer about a football club.
It is about power trips, profit, and how business works on some countries. So pride is at stake.
Check out what happened at Olympus, the film is on line to view, how to hide money and losses. Scarey stuff, but hey it was only 2 billion dollars

[Nameless]

If the development is going ahead then surely it's essential there are some people around to make it happen ?
It's not entirely clear to me how the various RFCcompanies fit in to the whole project and I agree that a certain degree of scepticism is healthy but I'm not sure that having employees on the project (as there have been for a year or more) is a concern.

[royalp-we]

Any more news on the new spoons?

According to the consultation, the planning application was to be made by the end of 2015 and if approved; works would begin in 2016. Should we expect say, 6mnths for the planning Response by RBC?

[Nameless]

Was speaking to someone last week who had the planning permission wouldn't go in until later this year. Presumbly they've been factoring in stuff from the consultation before submitting it for approval.
Wouldn't have thought it would take long for the council to get back to them as I believe the council have been involved from the start so what goes in should be pretty much pre approved.
However expect Wokingham Council to make it difficult as they pretty much scuppered the stadium expansion with last minute spurious objections which tipped it into being impossible rather than difficult.

[One8Seven1*]

Was speaking to someone last week who had the planning permission wouldn't go in until later this year. Presumbly they've been factoring in stuff from the consultation before submitting it for approval.
Wouldn't have thought it would take long for the council to get back to them as I believe the council have been involved from the start so what goes in should be pretty much pre approved.
However expect Wokingham Council to make it difficult as they pretty much scuppered the stadium expansion with last minute spurious objections which tipped it into being impossible rather than difficult.

What exactly were their objections, and why do they have a say? It's not exactly going to ruin the mighty Wokingham's skyline. They're a safe distance away so traffic shouldn't be a factor either!

Interesting to hear that even people at the club are unconvinced by the Thai's intentions for the club. Not forgetting how we heard so much about them saving us at the eleventh hour, but the debt still remains. They didn't actually pay a penny off, just moved it. The may have paid out in transfers and wages for this season, or that could plausibly be loans again. Common enough in football. The debt just grows bigger. But lets all get excited by losing the car park and having a housing estate and ice rink built on the clubs land, because after all that show real ambition for the football club, right!

[Platypuss]

You do realise that the MadStad directly abuts the border between RBC and WBC? Costco and the wind turbine are IN Wokingham BC FFS! Of course they have a say with a big development that close.

FWIW I thought WBC's objections to the original expansion plans were all satisfactorily dealt with in the end.

[Forbury Lion]

Wokingham just wants to be involved and made to feel like they're important - Isn't the Bearwood training ground/future training ground and the old/current one at Arborfield in the Wokingham district?

If REP will improve land value their side of the border and lead to more development with more rates being paid they should be happy, but if they get none of the benefits and all of the problems such as traffic congestion they may not be too happy.

[One8Seven1*]

You do realise that the MadStad directly abuts the border between RBC and WBC? Costco and the wind turbine are IN Wokingham BC.

Nope, had no idea. Thanks. What were their objections?

[Nameless]

Their objections were basically around the increase in traffic on roads they were responsible for.
From what I recall the objection was made quite late in the process and was one factor in the expansion being shelved. Addressing the objection would have meant missing the optimal start date for the work (ie as soon as the last game of the season had been played ). Other factors also influenced the decision and in hindsight it was probably a good thing we didn't go ahead.
I would hope for REP Wokingham have signed off the plans in advance...

[Platypuss]

Wokingham's objections were considered by the RBC planning committee. Planning permission was still granted.

[Nameless]

But work did not go ahead....

[tidus_mi2]

But work did not go ahead....

We got relegated.

[Nameless]

But work did not go ahead....

We got relegated.

Not sure that can be blamed on Wokingham Council

[Platypuss]

But work did not go ahead....

That was the club's choice though, and due to relegation first and foremost.